The present invention relates generally to receptacles and container structures. Specifically, the invention relates to molded, thin-walled containers that are capable of being stacked upon one another for storage and shipping purposes. For the purpose of clarification, caseless shipping is the ability to deliver products in a shipping container which requires no returnable, disposable, or replaceable cases.
To develop the concept of thin-walled containers an exemplary container will be used to reference thin-walled containers and establish a working definition that can be described, for example, as a ratio of the amount of plastic resin required to make a container relative to the amount of product capable of being transported in the container. To illustrate the concept, an industry standard gallon milk container should be used as the reference container for the development of the concept. Typical bottle weights for this container range from 90 grams (at the time the bottle was first introduced back in 1952) to 56 to 60 grams (as manufacturing technology progressed to today's standards).
In the field of art relating to the shipping and storage of bulk food products including milk and beverages, plastic molded containers are used to contain the products for transport, distribution, and ultimately for dispensing by consumers. Known containers usually take the form of blow-molded, one-piece plastic containers. The pour opening defines the uppermost wall or surface of the container and is generally located at the center of the container. A tapering region extends downwardly from the pour spout merging with four sidewalls that are disposed in substantially perpendicular relation relative to one another. A handle is integrally molded in the container and has a generally inverted L-shape. A first leg of the handle extends generally horizontally from the tapering region and a second leg of the handle extends generally vertically, merging with a sidewall junction of the container just above a base.
These containers are typically stored and shipped in some form of shipping case; consequently, these containers have been designed with little regard to the structural loading, stackability, and efficient packaging during transport. Unitized cases contain between four to six containers and take several different forms such as wire or plastic cases, corrugated boxes, or corrugated materials which provide structural support to the individual containers during shipping. These unitized cases are shown in FIGS. 1A (corrugated boxes) and 1B (plastic cases).
FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate several delivery mechanisms which are capable of shipping a large number of full containers which may or may not be unitized in cases. A brief description of the above shipping mechanisms will assist in further defining the principle of thin-walled, caseless shipping. Pallets (FIG. 2A) that support stackable cases are the most widespread form of shipping product for the retail or food service industry and the cases are the only returnable, reusable shipping mechanism considered by the industry. Bossies (FIG. 2B) and dollies (FIG. 2C) are primarily utilized by the dairy industry and are considered large, mechanical cases. There is a large cost associated with bossies and dollies since they have to be returned, cleaned, and reused in a similar fashion as the pallet cases.
For further discussion, the caseless concept will be defined on the pallet shipping mechanism as described below.
Cases can be stacked on pallets in several different configurations based on the pallet footprint. Typical pallets will have approximately two-hundred to two-hundred-fifty containers shipped on them and will be stacked from four to six cases high depending on the pallet size. The forces associated with these cases is evident from a consideration of the weight of a three liter milk container that is approximately six to seven pounds (or approximately eight and one-half pounds per gallon). The structure and strength of these cases make them ideal for stacking thin-walled containers that carry a dense product, however, their use has been problematic. The actual case costs are relatively inexpensive and are intended to be reused with a typical life of two years; however, the cases are often misappropriated by vandals or thieves for use in other applications, i.e., as storage containers for different articles. The cost associated with cases really occurs at the manufacturing facility and during distribution.
To understand the impact of caseless shipping in manufacturing facilities using cases, it is important that an appreciation of the current method for casing product be attained. The majority of the dairy industry uses plastic cases to some significant measure if they do not use them exclusively. The basic cycle of a case is as follows:
Cases are purchased for a price of approximately $2.00 (sixteen quart case) and are entered into the already large inventory of cases on an as needed basis. Even in the best operations, this replenishment process is driven by damage, new business, theft, customer accumulation, etc. In some instances, this replacement initiative is quite extensive and demands a significant portion of management time in order to maintain control of the case supply.
During a typical production day, cases must be continually fed to the facility as product is produced. This requires several people dedicated to move and unload trailers of empty cases as they return from the routes and one person dedicated to ensure that a continual supply of cases are maintained during production hours. In addition, large, covered areas are needed to house empty cases which requires maintenance and upkeep. Inventory costs associated with these cases need to be considered and can be rather extensive based on the size of the dairy. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate some of the space requirements associated with cases.
After the cases are unloaded and start through the production process, the cases must be destacked in the proper orientation to be prepped for container filling. FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a typical destacker system. The maintenance fees for this system have a percentage impact on the cost of goods. Continual supervision is required to ensure the destacker does not jam or prevent cases from flowing to the next pre-production stage.
Cases are then moved to the case cleaning system in which extremely caustic cleansers wash and clean the cases prior to container filling. The cleansers affect cost to the system by increasing sewer bills, replacement and maintenance of the equipment and expensive cleansers. FIG. 6 illustrates typical case washing equipment.
The cases are then conveyed to the filling process. The cases are loaded through automatic casing equipment and combined into stacks of five or six case heights. These stacks are conveyed into refrigerated areas where they are placed into storage positions for later retrieval as illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7C.
Distribution costs also impact on the costs associated with shipping these containers. Hooking, track shipping, or automated material handling systems are several methods for storing and retrieving filled cases. These methods are illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8D such as using hooks to pull cases (FIG. 8A), track shipping (FIG. 8B), using a pallet jack (FIG. 8C), and it should be noted that the automated material handling systems (FIG. 9) require large superstructures to house the cased product and are very capital intensive.
The containers are then shipped by various means in these cases. Depending on the system, the customer, and the demand, the containers will be pulled from various storage systems by the techniques illustrated above and loaded onto a distribution vehicle for delivery to a customer.
Depending on the type of distribution business considered, distribution expense may range from being very important to the most important issue in succeeding in a business. For a distributor, food service, or wholesaler who manufactures no products, the warehousing and distribution costs are likely the most crucial to the success of the business. Operational efficiencies depend on excelling in these areas. As a result, warehouses and distribution methods have been designed to return only the industry standard pallets. Reluctantly, and with substantial costs, many distributors handle product in cases with hopes that a corrugated alternative may become cost effective in the future. Smaller, more service-oriented distributors clearly recognize the value of eliminating returnable cases as the delivery person becomes much more efficient resulting from the elimination of non-value adding activities.
As stated above, the primary method for many customers to receive product is primarily on pallets or cases stacked on the floor. Though other variations exist, the fundamental economics are associated with these two methods.
Depending on the size of the customer, a typical trailer may have one to twelve customer orders to be delivered. The orders are loaded on the trailer in by stop sequence. A driver's typical delivery day is described below. The first customer will be delivered and the product will be taken to the cooler. Empty cases will be loaded onto pallets and wrapped with tape or shrink wrap to maintain a stable load. These pallets are then loaded into the back of the truck to be returned to the production facility at the end of the route as illustrated in FIG. 10.
The driver then departs to deliver to the next customer. One of two solutions occur. First, if the trailer was completely loaded such that there was very little room, the driver will have to unload the empty cases he just loaded at the previous stop before he can begin to deliver the next customer. Alternatively, if the trailer is partially full, the driver may have sufficient room to work and may not have to rotate empty cases until later stops. It should be noted that the practice of maximizing trailer loads to the back door is the norm to minimize distribution costs. The above empty case rotation is continued until all product is delivered and all of the empty cases are collected.
The critical steps for case delivery are summarized below:
1. Drive to the stop PA1 2. Unload product for delivery PA1 3. Load empty cases PA1 4. Drive to stop PA1 5. Unload empty cases PA1 6. Unload product for delivery PA1 7. Load new and old empty cases and/or rotate load PA1 8. Drive to stop PA1 9. Repeat until load is complete PA1 1. Drive to stop PA1 2. Deliver purchases material PA1 3. Pick up pallet(s) PA1 4. Drive to next stop PA1 5. Deliver purchased material PA1 6. Pick up pallet(s) PA1 7. Repeat until load is complete
It is envisioned that caseless shipping would have enormous benefits and labor savings associated with, for example, the distribution, the critical steps for delivery are summarized below:
The difference is the lack of non-value services required. As is realized, there is no wasted time collecting empty cases or rotating product and empty cases on the trucks. Other obvious savings are better utilization of trailer loads because no space needs to be allocated for cases and route efficiencies can be enjoyed and potential for back hauls can be achieved. Also, if the trailer is not full because of time constraints, more time on the route will be enjoyed and more stops placed on the route because time will not be lost collecting empty cases.
The current mode of handling cases have a per unit distribution expense which can be drastically reduced. Based on simple arithmetic, it has been estimated that the improvement might be as much as 30%.
In addition to the problems associated with transporting and shipping with cases as described above, the production of the individual plastic containers widely used in the dairy industry is another area requiring improvement, e.g. reduced production cost. A typical milk production facility will manufacture or purchase millions of these containers per year. A cost savings of one-cent in material resin cost is significant when applied to the number of containers involved. As a result, there has been much effort in the past to minimize the material costs without compromising container integrity. It should be noted that the processing and distribution costs are much larger than the cost associated with the resin for a production facility. Thus, a need exists to produce a container with similar amounts of resin as used today (i.e., thin-walled) while eliminating cases and all of the associated costs described above.
Design efforts relating to containers for food have also focused on aesthetic appeal and consumer benefits. For example, a pitcher-like construction which is easy to grasp and tilt and which provides for easy pourability of the contained product may be desirable from a marketing perspective. Similarly, the container should incorporate non-drip characteristics and eliminate or reduce the potential for "glugging" caused by a lack of venting air into the container during pouring.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a container structure which provides for stackability and which eliminates the need for cases or shippers during bulk transport. It would be further desirable to provide a container structure which provides enhanced strength, as well as the above-mentioned consumer benefits, without adding to the material costs involved in its manufacture.